Musical description
With A Little Help From My Friends is the second song from the album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. It follows on directly from the opening song, which takes its name from the album title. The two songs are A technique used in audio to produce a smooth transitioning sound. together so that they merge. The Beatles wanted the album to have a live feel so added a pre-recorded applause.
Form and structure
The overall structure of the song is as follows:
- introduction
- verse 1
- chorus
- verse 2
- chorus
- bridge
- verse 3
- chorus
- bridge
- chorus
Harmony and tonality
The overall song is in the A pattern of sharps or flats at the beginning of a piece of music indicating which are to be played. of E major but the four-bar introduction is in G major. This is unusual as the purpose of an intro is to establish the key of the piece. On the The voice as a musical instrument. Billy Shears, three rising consecutive chords are heard: C/G - D/A - E.
The chorus follows a double A type of cadence where chords IV to I are played. Makes the phrase sound finished, but is softer than a perfect cadence. In the key of Bb major, a plagal cadence is the sub-dominant third (Eb) leading to the tonic chord (Bb). progression moving from D - A (IV - I) then A - E (IV - I).
There is Chromatic harmony uses notes from outside the key to colour the chords. in the vocal melody. This can be heard on the word friends in the chorus and in the bridge on the words need and be. The vocal line slides from G♮ to G♯ in both instances.
The final The sequence of chords used to end a musical phrase. in the song is an alternative to the A type of cadence where the chords played are chord V then I. This progression sounds complete.. It concludes with D major - E major (♭VII - I).
The final The first degree of a scale and the central key of music. In Roman numerals this is I. chord is emphasised by a strike on the cymbal.
Tempo
The tempo is marked moderately at 110 beats per minute (Beats per minute.).
Rhythm and metre
The overall metre is 4/4 and there is an instruction to play ‘swung’ triplet quavers. The guitar and piano play mainly straight crotchets and the bass emphasises beats 1 and 3 in the verse before moving to crotchets in the chorus.
The drum kit also begins with crotchets before moving to swung quavers on the hi-hat. The vocal melody line contains Rhythm patterns where stressed notes are placed off the beat. as in the opening A short section of music, normally a melody, that could be thought of as a musical sentence. Phrases are like building blocks in music. of the verse. The notes on the words 'think', 'sang' and 'tune' are longer, meaning that the words that follow now start after the main beat, giving a syncopated feel.
The lead vocal starts each passage offbeat to the hi-hat